SIX-time world snooker champion Ray Reardon has led the tributes to his former rival John Spencer, who has died from stomach cancer at the age of 70.

Spencer won the world title in 1969, 1971 and 1977, the latter the first time the championship was staged at its current home, The Crucible theatre in Sheffield.

He was a key figure in snooker's emergence as a hugely popular sport on television, firstly as a player and subsequently as the chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and as a commentator for BBC television.

"It's so sad," Reardon said.

"We played plenty of times as professionals and also in the amateur game, and it was a shame we never met in a world final."